Tag: New Zealand

New Zealand confirms airport virus case, says travel bubble unaffected

WELLINGTON, New Zealand  (AFP) — New Zealand authorities revealed an Auckland airport worker had tested positive for Covid-19 Tuesday, although Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it would not affect a newly opened travel bubble with Australia. Confirmation the cleaner at New Zealand’s largest airport had contracted the virus came barely 24 hours after the transport hub hosted joyful scenes as families reunited following the launch of the quarantine-free bubble. Ardern said the cleaner worked on […]

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Hugs, tears as New Zealand-Australia travel bubble opens

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Emotions ran high Monday as excited passengers set off on the first flights to take advantage of a quarantine-free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand, allowing families split by the pandemic to finally reunite. “(I’ll) yell, scream cry, hug, kiss, (feel) happy — all of these emotions at once,” Denise O’Donoghue, 63, told AFP at Sydney airport as she prepared to board her flight. The arrangement means that for the […]

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New Zealand drafts plans for Australia travel bubble

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand is finalizing a long-awaited travel bubble with neighboring Australia and will reveal next month when trans-Tasman trips can resume, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday. Speaking almost exactly a year after New Zealand closed its borders as Covid-19 swept across the globe, Ardern acknowledged many Kiwis were impatient for quarantine-free travel to and from Australia. But she said the government would exercise the cautious approach that has seen […]

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New Zealand economy posts record decline in 2020

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand’s economy shrank at a record rate of 2.9 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, official data released Thursday showed. Statistics New Zealand said the economy contracted just one percent in the final quarter of 2020 but a coronavirus-induced recession earlier in the year meant the annual fall was the highest on record. “The decline in annual gross domestic product is largely due to […]

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Strong aftershocks rock New Zealand’s North Island

  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Earthquakes continued to rock New Zealand’s North Island on Saturday with the US Geological Survey recording a magnitude 6.4 shock the day after a Pacific-wide tsunami alert sparked by a monster quake. There have been no reports of serious damage or injury from the quakes, nor from a host of smaller tremors, which were centred offshore from the eastern city of Gisborne. A swarm of quakes up to 8.1 […]

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New Zealand lifts tsunami evacuation orders after Pacific quakes

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand lifted tsunami evacuation orders covering large swathes of its coastline Friday, declaring “the largest waves have now passed” after a swarm of powerful offshore earthquakes. “All people who evacuated can now return,” said the National Emergency Management Agency, which ordered tens of thousands of residents to flee for higher ground after a series of tremors early Friday. © Agence France-Presse

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PHIVOLCS: No tsunami threat to PHL following strong quake off New Zealand

(Eagle News) — There is no tsunami threat to the Philippines. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the advisory after a strong earthquake hit near New Zealand on Thursday, March 5, New Zealand time. PHIVOLCS said the magnitude of the earthquake which hit at 3:28 a.m. on Friday, March 5, Philippine time, near the Kermadec Islands was at 8. The US Geological Survey, however, pegged it at 8.1. PHIVOLCS said the depth of […]

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Mass evacuations as large quakes spark Pacific-wide tsunami alert

WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — Tens of thousands of coastal residents in New Zealand, New Caledonia and Vanuatu fled for higher ground Friday as a cluster of powerful earthquakes sparked a Pacific-wide tsunami alert. Warning sirens sounded across Noumea as authorities ordered evacuations amid fears that waves of up three meters (10 feet) were headed towards the French territory. “People must leave beach areas and stop all water activities, and should not pick their children […]

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New Zealand orders tsunami evacuations after strong Pacific quake

WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — New Zealand ordered coastal communities across swathes of the North Island to evacuate Friday after three powerful offshore earthquakes sparked tsunami fears in the Pacific nation. A 7.8-magnitude quake, which followed earlier tremors of 7.4 and 6.9 in the same region, struck at 8:28 am (1928 Thursday GMT) around 1,033 kilometers (640 miles) off the New Zealand coast, the US Geological Survey said. “People near the coast… must move immediately […]

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Magnitude 6.9 quake hits New Zealand; tsunami warning issued

  AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AFP) — A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island Friday, the US Geological Survey said, triggering a tsunami warning from authorities. The USGS said the quake hit 180 kilometres (111 miles) northeast of the city of Gisborne at 1327 Thursday GMT (10:27 p.m. PHL time), at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres. “Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts […]

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New Zealand’s largest city back in lockdown as Covid lingers

  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered New Zealand’s largest city back into lockdown on Saturday as Covid-19 cases continued to be detected in the community. The latest restrictions in Auckland will last at least seven days and come less than two weeks after a three-day shutdown in the city. Ardern said a new coronavirus case confirmed on Saturday could not be directly connected to other positive tests over the last […]

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Dozens of whales strand at notorious New Zealand bay

  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Rescuers were racing Monday to save dozens of pilot whales that beached on a stretch of New Zealand coast notorious for mass strandings, wildlife officials said. The Department of Conservation (DOC) said the pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales was found early Monday at Farewell Spit, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the South Island tourist town of Nelson. By mid-afternoon, nine of the whales had died and […]

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